President Barack Obama has delivered his final weekly address, one week before leaving the White House

Obama spoke of the honor of serving as president for two terms. He said he remained optimistic about America’s future.

The 44th President urged Americans to engage in citizenship: “But we can’t take our democracy for granted. All of us, regardless of party, should throw ourselves into the work of citizenship. Not just when there’s an election, not just when our own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime. If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the internet, try to talk with one in real life.”

Watch Obama’s final weekly address (4m)

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Transcript of President Barack Obama’s final weekly address.

This week, I travelled to Chicago to deliver my final farewell address to the nation, following in the tradition of Presidents before me. It was an opportunity to say thank you. Whether we’ve seen eye-to-eye or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with you, the American people – in living rooms and schools; at farms and on factory floors; at diners and on distant military outposts – are what have kept me honest, kept me inspired, and kept me going. Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man. [Read more…]

Barack Obama has delivered his farewell address, ten days before he leaves office after serving two consecutive terms as the 44th President of the United States.

Speaking in Chicago, Obama finished where he began in the 2008 election campaign, exhorting his supporters “to hold fast to that faith written into our founding documents; that idea whispered by slaves and abolitionists; that spirit sung by immigrants and homesteaders and those who marched for justice; that creed reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the surface of the moon; a creed at the core of every American whose story is not yet written: Yes we can.”

Listen to Obama’s speech (56m)

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Prepared transcript of President Barack Obama’s farewell address.

It’s good to be home. My fellow Americans, Michelle and I have been so touched by all the well-wishes we’ve received over the past few weeks. But tonight it’s my turn to say thanks. Whether we’ve seen eye-to-eye or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with you, the American people – in living rooms and schools; at farms and on factory floors; at diners and on distant outposts – are what have kept me honest, kept me inspired, and kept me going. Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man.

I first came to Chicago when I was in my early twenties, still trying to figure out who I was; still searching for a purpose to my life. It was in neighborhoods not far from here where I began working with church groups in the shadows of closed steel mills. It was on these streets where I witnessed the power of faith, and the quiet dignity of working people in the face of struggle and loss. This is where I learned that change only happens when ordinary people get involved, get engaged, and come together to demand it.

After eight years as your President, I still believe that. And it’s not just my belief. It’s the beating heart of our American idea – our bold experiment in self-government. [Read more…]

Ahead of the G20 meeting, President Barack Obama has placed climate change at the centre of a speech to students at the University of Queensland.

Obama told the gathering that no region had more at stake than the Asia-Pacific. He said climate change was causing more wildfires, flooding, extreme storms and rising seas. “The incredible natural glory of the Great Barrier Reef is threatened,” he said.

Obama pledges $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund to assist developing countries. “Let them leap frog some of the dirty industries that powered our development, go straight to a clean-energy economy that allows them to grow, create jobs and at the same time reduce their carbon pollution,” he said. [Read more…]

United States President Barack Obama has called for a global investigation of the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17.

Obama said the deaths of 298 passengers and crew was a “global tragedy”. He described the attack as “an outrage of unspeakable proportions” that required a credible international investigation. [Read more…]

President Barack Obama and other world leaders have gathered at Normandy in France to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

Like the 75th anniversary of Gallipoli in 1990, this is likely to be the last time that survivors of the largest sea-borne invasion in history will gather to remember the historic turning point that led to the defeat of Hitler and the end of the war in Europe.